Top 10 Anime You Didn’t Know Had Live-Action Adaptations

VO: JB
Written by Alex Crilly-Mckean
Wait, they made what into a movie?! Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we are counting down our picks for the top ten anime you didn’t know had live-action adaptations.
For this list, we’ll be looking at the anime and manga inspired live-action films that you may not know even existed. They can range from decent to abhorrent, just so long as they are obscure.
Special thanks to our user Ashjbow for submitting the idea on our interactive suggestion tool: WatchMojo.comsuggest

Top 10 Anime You Didn’t Know Had Live-Action Adaptations

Wait, they made what into a movie?! Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we are counting down our picks for the top ten anime you didn’t know had live-action adaptations.

For this list, we’ll be looking at the anime and manga inspired live-action films that you may not know even existed. They can range from decent to abhorrent, just so long as they are obscure.

#10: “Erased” (2016)

The anime equivalent proved to be one of last year’s best shows. It had thrills, a gripping mystery, an intriguing supernatural element along with some visceral emotional punishment courtesy of some deeply upsetting scenes revolving around child abuse and murder. It’s definitely not a lighthearted jaunt through anime’s funnier tropes. Its success also found itself a live-action version that for the most part acts as a pretty good abridgment of the show, minus a few cut corners just to arrive at that stinger of an ending. If you’re not willing to spend five hours watching the series, then this would be a good enough replacement.

#9: “Another” (2012)

The amount of times side characters get knocked off in this series is almost comical, which ends up actually being part of the reason the show had fans. After all, death by umbrella doesn’t scream hardcore horror. As for the live-action version, in some ways it’s far more boring, while in others its actually funnier. With its low production quality, what you end up watching is a watered-down version of Final Destination. The creativity that goes into the kills is gone, but in exchange we get to see extremely poor special effects! Either way, don’t expect to be scared while watching this.

#8: “Mirai Nikki -Another:World-“ (2012)

Sorry to say folks, Yuno Gasai isn’t here, so don’t go in expecting to see her slicing up people with axes or busting out that famous yandere expression of hers. This drama series actually considers itself an original story, separating itself from the source material. Sounds intriguing, what’s it about? Oh, a lazy high school student is entered into a battle royal after he finds that his phone can predict the future…and has a stalker whose first name is…Yuno. Okay, changing surnames doesn’t count as original! Not that you’ll care since the quality of this series is pretty dismal.

#7: “Great Teacher Onizuka” (1998)

Man, this guy really wasn’t kidding, he’s such an great teacher that he’s had many live-action television series under his belt over the years. However, the one we’re focusing on is the original series, starring Takashi Sorimachi. Onizuka is a man who fluctuates between being a total badass, a lovable oaf to a creep desperate to score some nookie. The series mostly captures this, but its kinda hard to ignore how traditionally handsome the lead actor is compared to his anime counterpart. There’s no shortage of live action Onizuka to indulge in, but this is probably the best of the bunch.

#6: “Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon” (2003-04)

Ooh, right in the childhood. While at first glance this looks like a low budget tokusatsu (and it kind of is) but it has so much sickly charm and an aim at a young female demographic that it’s hard to completely hate this show. Emphasis on completely. Its transformation sequences and sudden musical interludes may have you cringing, but it must be doing something right to get its initially decent ratings and record sales. Again, you’re probably much better off watching the anime before this. At least their cheesiness is fabulous.

#5: “Kaiji” series (2009-11)

While not exactly the breakthrough adaptation, these films are still worthy of praise. Following the gambling exploits of our constantly failing protagonist, both the initial flick and its sequel managed to translate the manga’s greatest moments, mainly due to the fact that creator Nobuyuki Fukumoto helped to craft the script. It may not have the stylised tension that made the show such a hit, but look at it this way! If not for the second Kaiji movie, we wouldn’t have got the second anime series. That alone warrants the movie’s existence!

#4: “Assassination Classroom” series (2015-16)

No, your eyes are not deceiving you. They actually made a live-action Korosensei, and it looks just as ridiculous as you would have expected. You know what’s even more surprising? They made a pretty faithful adaptation. Given how out of this world the original series was, the movies manage to balance the crazy action, characters and premise rather well. There’s obviously a budget behind it, the slapstick humor goes along way, and the longer you watch him the more CGI Korosensei starts to grow on you. Class E would be proud.

#3: “Terraformars” (2016)

Takashi Miike sure likes to adapt the crazier side of anime doesn’t he? Just this year he made what appears to be the first in a series of films based on JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable(xref). While the effects and tone of that movie were certainly passable, heck some fans found it downright enjoyable, the same can’t be said for last year’s venture. While the original Terraformars gave us terrifying humanoid cockroaches and a buffet of gore, the live action version was pretty poor by comparison. The effects speak for themselves.

#2: “Prison School” (2015)

You all remember this anime, right? How it had a gripping story about bromance…while also being submerged in more fanservice, boobs, ecchiness and every kind of lewd content imaginable? Yeah, they made a live-action series about that. As you might expect, the proportions of the characters are substantially dialled back, though to their “credit” there’s plenty of chest and panty shots. We’d say kudos to them for sticking to the original works almost to the letter, but in doing so it actually comes across as even more perverted! We’re guessing that’s a win?

#1: “Dragon Ball: The Magic Begins” (1991)

Ha! So you thought that Dragonball: Evolution was the biggest crime against the DB name? Well, it is, but this is a close second! Behold, the unofficial Taiwanese adaptation of the Dragon Ball movie Curse of the Blood Rubies. Not that you would be able to tell as the production quality is beyond the pale of bad. Made all the worse by the hysterically poor English dubbing. If you think you’re brave enough and just want to watch trash of the highest calibre, you can’t go wrong with what has to be Goku’s second most degrading outing. Oh wait, he’s not called Goku in the dub. He’s Monkey Boy. We aren’t joking.

Do you agree with our list? What live-action film inspired by anime were you shocked to learn existed? With new top tens published every day be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.